Method and means for eliminating set marks



July 31, 1956 J. D. GRIFFIN 2,756,781

METHOD AND MEANS FOR ELIMINATING SET MARKS Filed Nov. 14, 1950 INVENTOR JOHN DORSEY GRIFFIN ATTORNEY METnon AND MEANS non ELlMINATING SET MARKS John Dorsey Griffin, Pendleton, S. C., assignor to Deering Milliken Research Corporation, near Pendleton, S. C., a corporation of Delaware Application November 14, 1950, Serial No. 195,675

9 Claims. (Cl. 139-291) My present invention relates to looms and comprises a novel method and means for eliminating or reducing the number and severity of set-marks. Set-mark is the name given to irregularities in filling spacing which occur when a loom has been stopped and then later started up again, these irregularities showing up in the woven fabric, particularly after dyeing and finishing, as fillingwise bands. In general, the longer the time during which a loom has stopped, the more severe or pro-' nounced is the set-mark.

Although various attempts have in the past been made to avoid the occurrence of set-marks, none has. heretofore proven successful so that the usual practice is to attack the problem from the other end, that is, to devise Ways and means to prevent stopping of a loom during the weaving of the desired length of fabric. It is not always feasible economically to operate a loom twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, and furthermore it is not possible to avoid at least occasional stoppage of a loom, as for example when a warp or filling yarn breaks, or when mechanical failure of a part occurs.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a method of so operating a loom that set-marks in the fabric being woven either do not occur upon loom stoppage or are so faint they do not cause the fabric to be classified as seconds.

It is a further object of the invention to provide for looms of standard manufacture an attachment which will not interfere with the weaving operation and which will tend to prevent the occurrence of a set-mark in the fabric when the loom is started up after it has been stopped.

As a result of numerous tests, I have determined that the prime cause of set-marks is a displacement of the fell which occurs during stoppage, the fell moving backward toward the lay a distance depending upon whether the period of loom stoppage is long or short, the longer the period of stoppage the greater the distance of fell movement. This movement of the fell appears to be due to excessive stretching of the cloth as compared to the warp yarns under the load impressed by the let-01f mechanism. I have found that set-marks may be substantially eliminated by gripping or snubbing the cloth close to the fell for the full width of the loom and that such snubbing not only does not interfere with the weaving operation but has the additional advantage of making unnecessary the useof temples and thereby avoiding the warpwise marks which occur in certain fabrics when woven on looms equipped with temples.

In accordance with the invention the means for snubbing or gripping the cloth preferably comprise a pair of members which extend across the loom and are fixed to the loom frame, one member extending partially over the other but spaced therefrom so as to cause cloth led under the lower member, then between the members and over the upper member, to follow a sinuous path introducing suflicient frictional resistance to movement of the cloth to prevent rearward displacement of the nited States Patent 2 fell during loom stoppage while permitting normal forward movement of the cloth during the weaving operation. Preferably the lower of the two members, that nearer the fell, is cylindrical in shape and the upper member has a fiat upper surface and a smoothly rounded rear edge so positioned with respect to the lower member as to cause the cloth to engage the cylindrical member over an are between and Both members should be relatively rigid and should be so oriented as to avoid distortion of the cloth.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings of which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a part of a loom equipped with a cloth snubbing device embodying the invention, part of the device being broken away for clarity; and

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings the invention has been shown as embodied in an attachment'for a loom of the type manufactured by the Draper Corporation of Hopedale, Massachusetts, the particular loom illustrated being of the X series. Only so much of the loom structure is illustrated as is required for identifying the location on the loom of the device forming the subject matter of the present invention. In the drawing, the side frame members of the loom are indicatedat 2, the lay at 4, the breast beam at 6 and sand roll at 8. In accordance with the invention, a bracket 10 formed from angle iron is bolted to each end of the breast beam 6 by means of a bolt 12. Each bracket is provided with an elongated hole 14 for reception of the bolt 12 to permit forward and rearward adjustment of the bracket on the beam. The brackets 10, each of which is preferably reinforced by a fin or web 16, have weldedv to their under sides in the neighborhood of the fin 16, opposite ends of an angle iron 18. The vertical leg of angle iron 18 is bolted near each end to the rear rib 20 of the breast beam by means of bolts 22.

The rear end of the vertical leg or wall 10a of each bracket 10 extends beyond the horizontal leg 10b thereof and is provided with a circular apperture 26 for reception of a threaded cap screw 28 which in turn engages tapped holes of a tubular snubber member 30. The upper snubber member comprises an elongated plate 32 of metal having rounded edges. The snubber plate 32 is supported at its ends from the brackets 10 by means of small metal angle. pieces 34, one leg of each of which is welded to the inner side of the bracket 10, the snubber plate extending over the other legs of the strips 34 and being bolted thereto by suitable bolts 36. The supporting surfaces of the pieces 34 are. positioned at an angle. to the horizontal and at such level that the rounded rear edge of plate 32 extends over the forward surface of the rear snubber member 30.

In the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, an adjustable central support is provided for the snubber plate 32, which support comprises a strip 38 secured by bolts 39 to the horizontal upper leg of the angle iron 18 at its midsection, a set screw 40 threaded through the rear end of the strip 38 and engaging at its upper end the under side of the snubber plate 32 and a lock nut 42, for the screw 46, the rear part ofthe strip 38 being formed parallel with the snubber plate and the upper end of the screw 40 being flat to insure contact with the snubber plate over an area equal to the cross, section ofthe screw. Except for exceptionally wide looms, this central support for the upper plate, could be omitted, if desired.

. When the brackets 10 are first rnounted on the loom. theirpositions are so adjusted, as by the bolts 12, that the lower surface'of snubber rod 30 will extend across the loom close to the fell, indicated at 44, and slightly forward thereof. The cloth is led up around the forward side of the snubber rod, engaging the rod over an angle of almost 180, then over the rounded rear edge of snubber plate 32, over the upper surface of the plate and, as in usual practice, over the breast beam 6 to the sand roll 8.

With the above described construction, the cloth in the neighborhood of the fell is held sufficiently to prevent backward movement of the fell during loom stoppage with the result that set-marks are substantially reduced or eliminated. The snubber members are out of the way of moving parts of the loom and thus do not interfere with the weaving operation, nor do they interfere with the normal forward movement of the cloth during loom operation. The snubbing members, acting as they do to restrain the cloth across its full width, serve also to hold the shed firmly and to prevent its curving and thereby render it unnecessary in most instances to employ temples. This reduces the incidence of shuttle bounce with its resulting objectionable shuttle marks and adds the further advantage of eliminating warpwise temple marks in the cloth which cannot be readily removed.

The invention has now been described with reference to one specific embodiment thereof which is particularly designed for a Draper loom. As the design of the supporting means for the new snubber will depend upon the make and type of loom, various changes in the particular construction illustrated and described herein could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims. For example, when the snubbing members are used on a Crompton and Knowles loom, the center support of the upper snubber plate is not necessary and according such support and also the angle iron upon which it is mounted may be omitted. Also, although the new snubber has been shown as comprising a bar and a plate separately attached to support means, obviously the snubber could be formed from a single piece slotted for threading the cloth in a sinuous path therethrough. Various other departures from the illustrated construction will occur to those skilled in the art.

The following is claimed:

1. The method of restraining backward movement of the fell of cloth on a loom during loom stoppage which comprises guiding the cloth closely adjacent to the fell through a sinuous path defined by nonrotatable guides having curved cloth engaging surfaces and extending across the loom with both of said guides being out of the path of movement of the lay of the loom, and moving the lay and reed in the beat up stroke to a forward position where the front of the lay is moved forward of the one of said guides over which the cloth passes from the reed.

2. The combination with a loom having a reciprocatory lay of means for reducing the incidence of set-marks in cloth woven on the loom, said means comprising a structure having spaced cloth engaging nonrotatable surfaces extending across the loom adjacent the forward position of the lay and serving to guide the cloth in a sinuous path affording resistance to rearward creep of the cloth during loom stoppage, said non-rotatable structure being out of both the actual path and an imaginary extending path of the lay and having one cloth engaging surface within an imaginary extended path of the reed but spaced beyond the actual reed path.

3. The combination with a loom having a reciprocatory lay of means for reducing the incidence of set-marks in cloth woven on the loom, said means comprising a pair of non-rotatable spaced cloth engaging members extending across the loom adjacent the forward position of the lay and serving to guide the cloth in a sinuous path affording resistance to rearward creep of the cloth during loom stoppage, said non-rotatable members being disposed to one side of said lay at its forward position, one of said members being disposed in an imaginary extended path of the reed and between the front edge of the lay and the front of the reed when the lay and reed are in the forward position.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein one of said members is generally cylindrical in shape and is positioned with its axis parallel with the fell of the cloth and the other of said members is positioned to cause cloth led over the cloth engaging surface thereof to contact said first member over an are between and degrees.

5. The combination with a loom having a breast beam and a reciprocatory lay of an attachment for reducing the incidence and intensity of set-marks in cloth woven on the loom, said attachment comprising a pair of brackets, one mounted on the upper surface of the breast beam near one end thereof and the other mounted on the upper surface of the breast beam near the other end thereof, said brackets extending rearwardly of the breast beam and terminating short of the forward position of the lay, a cylindrical element, means for nonrotatively supporting the ends of said cylindrical element from said brackets at a location rearward of the breast beam, an elongated plate member having a rounded edge along at least one side and means for supporting said plate element from said brackets with the rounded edge thereof rearwardly and extending partially over said cylindrical element but spaced therefrom, said cylindrical and plate elements serving, when cloth being woven on the loom is led under the cylindrical element then up between the elements and forwardly over the plate element, to snub the cloth adjacent the fell and thereby prevent rearward movement of the cloth during loom stoppage.

6. The combination according to claim 5 including means for adjusting the position of each bracket on the breast beam.

7. The combination according to claim 5 wherein said plate element supporting means comprise support members secured to said brackets and adapted to hold said plate element with its upper surface inclined to the horizontal with the rounded edge thereof at a higher level than the forward edge.

8. The combination according to claim 5 including a member secured to said brackets and disposed below said plate element and means carried by said member for bracing the mid section of said plate member by engagement with the underside thereof.

9. The combination with a loom having a breast beam and a reciprocatory lay of an attachment for reducing the incidence and intensity of set-marks in cloth woven on the loom, said attachment comprising a cylindrical element, means for nonrotatively supporting the ends of said cylindrical element at a location rearward of the breast beam, an elongated plate member having a rounded edge along at least one side and means for supporting said plate element with the rounded edge thereof rearwardly and extending partially over said cylindrical element but spaced therefrom, said cylindrical and plate elements serving, when cloth being woven on the loom is led under the cylindrical element then up between the elements and forwardly over the plate element, to snub the cloth adjacent the fell and thereby prevent rearward movement of the cloth during loom stoppage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 809,239 Andem Jan. 2, 1906 858,963 Dalkranian -a July 2, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,063 Great Britain Jan. 9, 1884 6,621 Great Britain of 1904 495,300 Germany Apr. 5, 1930 

